It’s a sign of our times that many recent concept cars bear green credentials. Volkswagen’s E-Bugster concept is an all-electric Beetle with some Gotham City looks and some serious power under the hood and in the derrière. The E-Bugster houses a 114-horsepower electric motor with some generous 199 lb-ft of torque. The 695 pound lithium-ion battery, which is fitted under the rear seat and trunk floor, gives the car a 100-mile range.

The E-Bugster is three inches lower than the Beetle, and together with the 20-inch wheels and LED daytime running lights it should make for quite a sight — if not any sound thanks to its all electric credentials. Inside you will find an energy consumption display instead of a tachometer, driving range and battery charge indicators. The recharging plug rests inside the VW logo on the hood and can charge from level 1 (120 volts), level 2 (240 volts), and level 3 (400-volt quick charge providing 80 percent charge in 30 minutes) outlets.

We like a touch of green here at Stuff-Review, and Volvo has just announced a new plug-in hybrid concept car, which it claims to be superior to all existing hybrids. The Volvo XC-60 concept car is both a plug-in electric vehicle, an economical hybrid and a high-performance car in one. The driver can switch between different driving modes using buttons on the instrument panel.

The driver can choose between three modes. The Pure mode, which mainly uses the car’s electric motor for zero emissions and a range of 35 miles. The Hybrid mode, which is the car’s standard setting, and combines both the gasoline engine and electric motor to provide maximum efficiency. Under European standards you get CO2 emissions of 53 g/km (2.3 l/100 km) and a fuel economy of over 100 mpg (50 mpg under the US standard, which includes emissions for electrical energy). Under the hybrid mode the car has a range of 600 miles (960 km). The final is Power mode, which combines the 280 horse power four cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine and the 70 hp electric motor to achieve 350 hp and acceleration of 0 to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds.continue reading